Allotments 4 All

Have a great holiday, Debs, and how lovely to have wrens in your shed successfully producing young. I hope there aren't too many cats around. I always worry about wrens as they fly so low. Fingers crossed.

You could probably get your Viola Cornetti planted straight out into the ground as an alternative to potting on. In the next day or so, temperatures are on the up and there should be some rain too, so it could be the perfect time for them. They will have more light than in a sunny window but, whichever way you go, I hope you return to some healthy happy beans!

My peas (Blauschokker), have been out a few weeks and the tendrils are grabbing anything to climb upwards!
My CFB ( Viola Cornetti) are just beginning to break the surface and are in my south-facing potting shed, so I'll transplant them out of their loo rolls and into pots as I'm going on holiday next week
It's a busy time, trying to get everything organised before hols ... not helped by wrens who have built a nest inside my potting shed, which has at least 3 chicks inside - so I'm creeping around to avoid disturbing them 🫣

Peas can be started much earlier.  They can take a bit of frost.  So can broad beans.  French beans and runnerbeans are warm weather only crops.  The slightest bit of frost and they are gone.  Likewise I haven't planted any French beans outside yet either.  But my French beans in little pots are hardening off in the greenhouse where they are safe from slight frosts.  If we get a harder frost (anxious look at the weather forecast daily!) they can come indoors again for the night.

My peas have been out for weeks and they are starting to scramble up the supports.  Hope none of us will get a damaging late frost.   

It's a good time to start French and runner beans indoors or possibly even outdoors after soaking or chitting perhaps.
It's a cold week in England but I don't know whether it's the same in Wales. In eastern England the ground is still quite dry and this week's predicted rain will be useful.

I haven't yet started runners, nor french, maybe will do so this week.

I do have peas coming up in pots (patchy germination/critters on plot in previous years).. so we'll see how they'll do this year.

Will need to transplant my broad beans; started them off in loo roll inners... Looking good so far. Not notched yet...

Sweet peas, only one pot of them have germinated and I've planted them out.

Quote from: Debs on April 29, 2026, 13:47:02So, I've had the plot since end Jan 2025. It was overgrown, some of it covered in black plastic, and some parts (walkways?) were carpeted 😣
I initially cleared sections, sowed seed, entered the annual allotment show for fun and received 3 1st placings for potatoes, home-made tomato chutney and sweetcorn ( the judge said it was the best he'd ever seen at the show!)
I've pruned a large overgrown apple tree which has responded well so far (🙏), tripped into a small very overgrown pond which I hadn't seen, but which now is cleared and has frogs and a newt ( hopefully more)
The soil is friable and seems really good, but has mares tail which I'm slowly digging out to reduce it
I picked the plot ( despite it being overgrown), as it has a greenhouse, potting shed and apple tree! Once I'd begun clearing, I found gooseberries and raspberries and other plants, which was fantastic
There's still lots to do, but I love it and go as often as work & life allows
It's a great spot with a resident pheasant, bird song and other wildlife (some not so welcome!)
It's my little piece of heaven 😊

That sounds like a great start, Debs. Fancy growing well enough to win prizes in your first year! And it sounds like a gift of a site. Well chosen!

Quote from: Debs on April 28, 2026, 17:01:48*Tomato 'Gazzi yellow egg' ( grown and seed collected last year) received from Markfield Rover in the seed circle 2016

wow, I too put these gazi-yellow-egg seeds into chitting  after 10 years, they seems not sprouting yet. good to know someone got success already.

and all oea seeds from him also into ground , if any of them come up, thinking of saving the mix in his name :)

So, I've had the plot since end Jan 2025. It was overgrown, some of it covered in black plastic, and some parts (walkways?) were carpeted 😣
I initially cleared sections, sowed seed, entered the annual allotment show for fun and received 3 1st placings for potatoes, home-made tomato chutney and sweetcorn ( the judge said it was the best he'd ever seen at the show!)
I've pruned a large overgrown apple tree which has responded well so far (🙏), tripped into a small very overgrown pond which I hadn't seen, but which now is cleared and has frogs and a newt ( hopefully more)
The soil is friable and seems really good, but has mares tail which I'm slowly digging out to reduce it
I picked the plot ( despite it being overgrown), as it has a greenhouse, potting shed and apple tree! Once I'd begun clearing, I found gooseberries and raspberries and other plants, which was fantastic
There's still lots to do, but I love it and go as often as work & life allows
It's a great spot with a resident pheasant, bird song and other wildlife (some not so welcome!)
It's my little piece of heaven 😊

Thanks Debs for the detail. I hope your growing goes well this season. How is it going with your allotment? Is it hard work to pull it round or was it in quite good condition when you took it over?
We look forward to having you in the circle.

Hi JanG,

*Pea Blauschokker (purple podded) recently planted out in     my allotment
*Climbing French bean 'Viola Cornetti'
 received from Galina in the seed circle 2016 (grown & seed collected last year)
*Tomato 'Gazzi yellow egg' ( grown and seed collected last year) received from Markfield Rover in the seed circle 2016

Also, (if anyone is interested), I'll put in the pea from 2016 which was believed to be 'sharpe's express' 
Debs